Intimate Letters of Piozzi and Pennington

Although better known for her letters to men of standing such as Samuel Johnson, Hester Lynch Piozzi's letters to Penelope Pennington show a much more intimate side of the woman of whom Boswell said "to hear you is to hear Wisdom, to see you is to see Virtue." The letters start a few years after Hester's second marriage to the Italian singer Gabriel Mario Piozzi and continue up to a few days before her death in 1821. The letters provide an irreverent and intimate account of the life of a wealthy Georgian lady, the trials and tribulations of her family life, and the prejudices and curiosities of the society within which she moved. This edition provides not only the letters which were sent to Mrs. Pennington, but also an interesting and comprehensive account of the circumstances under which they were written and the background of the colorful characters who are scattered throughout the work.

Little is known about Oswald G. Knapp, but he made a significant contribution to history in editing The Intimate Letters of Hester Piozzi and Penelope Pennington which provide a fascinating glimpse into life in the late Georgian period.